The Battle of Malvern Hill was fought on July 1, 1862, between the
Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, led by Robert E. Lee, and the
Union Army of the Potomac under George B. McClellan. It was the final
battle of the Seven Days Battles during the American Civil War, taking
place on the 130-foot (40 m) elevation of Malvern Hill, near the
Confederate capital of Richmond. Including inactive reserves, more than
50,000 soldiers from each side took part, using more than 200 pieces of
artillery. The Union's V Corps, commanded by Fitz John Porter, took up
positions on the hill on June 30. The battle occurred in stages: over
the course of four hours a series of blunders in planning and
communication caused Lee's forces to launch three failed frontal
infantry assaults across hundreds of yards of open ground, unsupported
by Confederate artillery, charging toward strongly entrenched Union
infantry and artillery. These errors provided Union forces with an
opportunity to inflict heavy casualties.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Malvern_Hill>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1770:
Lexell's Comet approached Earth at a distance of 0.015 AU
(2.2 million km; 1.4 million mi), closer to the Earth than any other
comet in recorded history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexell%27s_Comet>
1916:
First World War: The first day of the Battle of Albert, the
opening phase of the Battle of the Somme, became the bloodiest day in
the British Army's history, with 57,470 casualties, including 19,240
deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Albert_%281916%29>
1960:
Ghana became a republic, with Kwame Nkrumah as its first
president.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwame_Nkrumah>
2002:
Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937 and DHL Flight 611 collided
in mid-air over Überlingen, Germany, killing all 71 people aboard both
aircraft.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_%C3%9Cberlingen_mid-air_collision>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
motlopi:
The shepherd tree or shepherd's tree (Boscia albitrunca), an evergreen
tree native to southern and tropical Africa which is one of the most
important forage trees of the Kalahari.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/motlopi>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Every morning I pick up my newspaper, get the obituary section,
see if I'm listed, and if not, I have my breakfast.
--Carl Reiner
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Reiner>